Other Articles on Israel

Israel — 60 Years

A Nation of Miracles

Chapter Three

“The real Israel contributes more to hi-tech
innovation and progress than just about
any other country in the world.”
 

Israel’s Hi-Tech from the Last Three Years

2008

    Stream Control has produced a device to regulate water pressure in municipal pipes. The Aquaguard Smart Pressure Reduction Controller prevents leaks, conserves water, and saves millions of dollars.
     When water flows to homes in the morning and evening when people are taking showers or doing the laundry, there isn’t too much leakage because the pressure is low. But overnight, or during midday hours when people are out, pressure is much higher. Up to 40 percent of water coming from the reservoir can be lost to leakage in this way.
     “According to scientific studies, Mexico City’s water supply system loss is enough to meet the needs of a city the size of Rome,” Shlomo Avitbul says. The situation is the same all over the world. “According to our research, the average water loss due to leakage in the UK is 27%, 30% in Italy, 35% in Ireland, and 40% in Slovenia,” says Avitbul. “A quarter of all the water in London gets lost in this way.”
     Steam Control just finished a major project in Jerusalem’s old city, where their installations reduced leakage by 35%.

—C.En (Clean Energy) invention paves way for hydrogen cars. A revolutionary breakthrough will enable automobile manufacturers to produce cars that use hydrogen power. Hydrogen has long been the great green hope for governments and environmentalists since hydrogen can be manufactured from water.
—Xurity’s develops pencil beam X-ray to make flying safer. A new technology could make security checks at airports quicker and more accurate. Xurity’s pencil beam X-ray penetrates luggage to give an accurate ‘fingerprint’ of any suspicious objects.
—Underwater Technologies Center (UTC) brings text-messaging underwater. UTC has developed the world’s first underwater SMS-like text messaging device. Underwater Digital Interface (UDI), lets users send text messages underwater, or alerts when in danger. Worn on the wrist like a dive computer, the device introduces new elements to underwater communications, navigation and safety.
—Israel enters electric car partnership. A memorandum of understanding was signed between Renault-Nissan and Project Better Place, a company established by Agassi in October, 2007, which should see the first electric cars running in Israel in 2011. The new electric car will feature zero carbon and noise emissions, be priced no higher than the same model car with a gasoline engine, cost less to run and boast a lifetime warranty.
—HP Indigo Takes the Lead in Quality Digital Printing. Since HP purchased Israeli company Indigo, the multinational has become a significant player in the digital print field. Now, the company is launching a range of new technologies, many developed in Israel, that will change today’s digital printing industry.
—Among the new products are the HP Indigo 7000, a cost effective printer for run lengths ranging from one to over 1,000 at speeds of 120 four-color pages per minute, and using 25% less electricity consumption per page.
—Israeli-international team discover our solar system’s smaller twin. Astronomers from Tel Aviv University are part of an international team that has discovered a solar system nearly 5,000 light years away that is very much like our own.
—The newly discovered solar system, unlike any of the other 10 solar systems found during the last decade, includes two planets that resemble the gaseous planets Jupiter and Saturn, and is similar to our own solar system in terms of planets, relative weights and distances between them.
 —The new solar system is smaller than our own. Its sun is only half the size of ours, issuing only five percent as much light, while the Jupiter and Saturn-like planets are about 80 percent as big as our own Jupiter and Saturn planets. The planets’ distance from their sun is half the distance of ours from the sun.

2007

—Intel develops the eco-chip, with Israeli help. Thanks in part to Israeli expertise, Intel launched a new chipset incorporating transistors a mere 45 nanometers in size. The processor, codenamed ‘Penryn,’ not only boasts unparalleled speed and size, but can also claim to be the ‘greenest’ in the world.
—Israeli start-up promises a ‘terabyte’ of storage on a single disc. TeraDisc is the new next generation optical storage disc developed by visionary Israeli startup Mempile. It holds the equivalent of 212 DVD-quality movies, 250,000 MP3 files, and 1,000,000 large Word documents! The disc is divided into 200 different layers, five microns apart, each comprising 5GB of storage space. With a 50-year lifespan, at a fraction of the price of alternative solutions, the TeraDisc will solve all storage needs.
—A ‘smart’ solution to road safety. Two Technion researchers have developed a ‘smart’ road sign designed to reduce accidents by helping drivers make split-second decisions at intersections with no traffic lights. The system sets off strong flashing lights if it detects that a driver entering the secondary road, which does not have the right of way, could be in the line of collision with a vehicle entering from the main street.
—Helmet developed in Israel gives pilots ‘virtual view.’ New state-of-the-art F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft will be equipped with Israeli-developed mounted display systems in their helmets which incorporate and display all vital flight data. Developed by Elbit Systems and its US subsidiary VSI, the system will insure that fighter pilots will be able to keep their eyes on their targets.
—Israeli scientists create molecule-size keypad lock. Researchers at the Weizmann Institute have created a ‘molecular keypad lock’ which operates similarly to the electronic locks on today’s ATM machines, but uses a molecule in place of electrical circuits. The molecular breakthrough could lead to new safeguards against forgery and protection of secret information, as well as to diagnostic equipment that detects the release of biological molecules in the body that could indicate disease or exposure to chemical or biological weapons.
—Israel’s Mini-Nose sniffs out improvised explosives. An Israeli company has developed a hand-held device that digitally mimics the human nose to sniff out would-be terrorists trying to sneak through an airport or port with homemade explosive devices. Funded partly by the Pentagon and Israel’s Ministry of Defense, Scent Detection Technologies’ Mini-Nose has won the support of former heads of the CIA and Mossad. The non-radioactive ‘green’ device is already in use at airports across Europe and the US.

2006

—Israeli technology IDs traces of explosives. TraceGuard’s CarrySafe system is a high tech tool to prevent terrorists from carrying explosives on board an aircraft. By delivering greater speed and accuracy than current screening solutions based on manual checking, CarrySafe will make travel dramatically safer and more convenient.
—Torino Olympics saved by Israeli snow-making technology. When Italy faced the prospect of snowless mountains only a month before the Winter Olympics, the organizers turned to Israeli water-valve manufacturer Bermad for their expertise in producing artificial snow. Let the Games begin!
—Israeli nanomaterial more powerful than a locomotive. ApNano developed one of the most shock-resistant substances known, able to withstand pressures equivalent to dropping eight diesel locomotives onto an area the size of a fingernail. It is so impressive that a European Union Commission has granted ApNano $14 million as part of a project to develop new composite coatings and lubricants based on their nanoparticles.
—‘DreamBox’ surveillance system from Israel protects American water supply. Israel’s Magal Security Systems is a leader in computerized security systems with products being used in more than 70 countries around the world to protect anything from national borders, to nuclear facilities, refineries or airports. Now the company’s latest product, the DreamBox, a state-of-the-art security system that includes intelligent video, audio and sensor management, is being used by a major water authority on the US East Coast to safeguard the utility’s sites from hazardous threats and malicious activity.
—Israeli startup fights bioterrorism in real time. An Israeli start-up has developed a unique bioterrorism detection system that works like a smoke detector to discover anthrax and other biological hazards released into public places. What sets the BAS101 apart is the technology which responds instantly, setting off an alarm the moment it detects a biological agent in the air. It then identifies the agent on the spot, enabling officials to take appropriate action, instead of waiting for tests to come back from a lab.